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Superheavy: Making & Breaking the Periodic Table

scientist kit chapman demonstrating nuclear chemistry

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

April | Thu 30 | 18:30
Tickets: FREE

A talk by award-winning science journalist and author Kit Chapman
In conjunction with the local branch of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Creating an element is no easy feat. It’s the equivalent of firing six trillion bullets a second at a needle in a haystack, hoping the bullet and needle somehow fuse together, then catching it in less than a thousandth of a second – after which it’s gone forever. Welcome to the world of the superheavy elements: a realm where scientists use giant machines and spend years trying to make a single atom of mysterious artefacts that have never existed on Earth.

In this engaging talk, Kit will take audiences on a globe-trotting adventure and discuss the amazing science and hidden stories lurking at the edges of the periodic table. 

Why did the US Air Force fly planes into mushroom clouds? Who won the transfermium wars? How did an earthquake help give Japan its first element? And what happened when Superman almost spilled nuclear secrets....?






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